


Lady Cinderella

by Pinky18



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, LadyNoir - Freeform, adrienette - Freeform, cinderella!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-18 07:42:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11869728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinky18/pseuds/Pinky18
Summary: Marinette had a lot of things to think about, but once in a while she could allow a little entertainment, yet she didn't think sneaking into a masquerade party would cause such a chaos!





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

On her way to the princess’ room she checked that everything was on place. Apple juice? Here. Bowl of seasonal fruit? There it was. Freshly baked croissant filled with cherry jam? Placed in the middle of the tray. Anything else? Oh, yeah. Was the embroidered napkin under the silverware perfumed with Chanel n° 5? Yes, it was. Maybe this time the breakfast tray would live up to her highness’ expectations… maybe.  
She was almost at the door and Marinette prepared herself to meet the witch… ehm princess.  
In front of the room, she smiled at the butler standing there, who nodded back at her and knocked on the door.  
“Miss? Your breakfast is here”  
Marinette took a deep breath.  
“At least! Let her come iiiiiiiiin!” answered a high-pitched voice.  
The butler sighed and looked at Marinette with a pitiful glance. He opened the door to let her pass and closed it behind her.  
Marinette stood there, waiting for a command from Chloe, who was wandering through her wardrobe to find the perfect outfit for the day. After a few seconds, she turned towards Marinette, who stiffened hoping she didn’t do anything wrong… well, technically she hadn’t done anything at all.  
“Well? What are you waiting for? Put that tray on my table and go! You have already messed up my morning routine and just with your presence you’re ruining the furniture’s style. So, shoo.” She said glaring at her. Marinette would have broken out in a laugh at Chloe’ s face covered with a green beauty mask, but contained herself and nodded while heading to the table in the middle of the room.  
“What are you doing?! Not that table: the other one! Next to the chaise lounge!” of course she’d have two tables: that bedroom was the size of an apartment.  
“Yes, miss. I’m sorry.” answered Marinette and did what she was told.  
“Of course you are. Now leave! Oh, and tomorrow don’t be late or I’ll have to take measures. I don’t think your father would appreciate that his daughter got him losing his, for what I experienced, overpaid job.” Chloe said with a devilish smirk.  
Marinette nodded and quickly left the room.

“Can you believe it? She’s not normal, Alya! How can she be such a… such a ... URGH” Marinette was stomping on the sidewalk while her best friend, Alya, listened to her complains about the evil daughter of her boss… her family’s boss. And also Alya’s mother’s boss. Well, that man was the Mayor and Paris’ richest man so he probably was half the city’s boss.  
“Such a witch? A psycho? I could write a ten meters long list of suitable adjectives.” Alya had her own opinion about Chloe and it wasn’t what people would call a nice one.  
“I know. Imagine what would come out if we both got at it!” Marinette was getting calmer with each step. Pouring out her frustrations on Alya always calmed her. Maybe that was because her best friend was much more straightforward than her and made her feel like the quiet one.  
Besides, they were almost at school and she couldn’t wander around there screaming about Chloe’s misbehaviour since (surprise!) they all went to the same school.  
Now, Marinette’s story is kind of a mess. Let’s start from the beginning.  
Marinette’s father, Tom Dupain, was a respectful citizen of Paris who married Sabine Cheng, of Chinese origins, and worked as personal baker for the Bourgeois family, that is the Mayor’s family. In order to reach their dream of owning their very own bakery, the Dupain-Chengs worked hard for the Mayor, and Marinette, to support her parents, helped her family by working as a maid in the hotel, Le Grand Paris, owned and inhabited by the Bourgeois. It was the same hotel where Alya’s mother worked as a chef. Because of her age, Marinette was mostly assigned to the Mayor’s daughter, Chloe, who, aware of her family’s situation, never forgot to tease her with unnerving (and sometimes scary) threats. The two girls went to the same school as they both lived near it. If going at the same school wasn’t enough of a torture, Marinette had to bear being in the same class as Chloe for two years. Thankfully, now they were in different classes so her pain had lessened. Still, she needed to watch her mouth and hope that nothing of her angry ramblings would reach Chloe’s ears. Her parents’ dream now was also her responsibility and goal. She couldn’t take any risk.  
Marinette and Alya were laughing like the good friends they were when they turned the corner only to find a huge crowd stopping them from entering the school. They stopped and stared at the excited girls giggling and jumping to see whatever they were eager to see.

* * *

 

Adrien was eager, excited, euphoric! At last, after spending years asking his father to let him go to a public school, he managed to convince him! It was only the last year, and he’d begun with a month of delay, but it was better than nothing. Of course, his father had taken every kind of countermeasure to protect his only son, from whatever danger a bunch of high school kids could be, and Adrien complied with every decision.  
First thing first, he had to mask his first entrance at school: someone had leaked the information that Adrien Agreste would continue his education, from that day on, in that school, so now he had to evade the journalists and fans stationed at the front door of the school by entering from one of the back doors. He was used to stuff like that. Technically, after establishing that no Agreste would show up, both fans and journalists would assume that the rumour was fake and leave. Adrien hoped that none of his new classmates would blow up the plan by telling the world who was the new student. Well, it would have been a miracle not to be spotted with the mountain at his back. Another idea of his father’s: get to school and back home with the bodyguard.  
Pressing his hat onto his forehead he walked down the street towards the school’s back entrance. He noticed some other students heading that way instead of getting to the front door. Adrien hoped they would forgive him for that distress.  
The bodyguard stopped next to a street light, where he would wait for him to finish his classes and head back home. What an exciting day for that poor man!  
He didn’t envy him.  
Ready to begin his new adventure, Adrien pushed open the door and entered his new school. He was already fantasizing on what could happen in that place when he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, two girls heading towards him and decided to hold the door open. They probably weren’t used to good manners since they stared at him with round eyes. Had they recognized him? He couldn’t be so unlucky.  
His thoughts were interrupted when one of the two girls, the one with the pigtails, tripped over her own feet and fell with a short cry. Both him and the other girl helped her getting back up. For a moment, Adrien and the tripping-girl stared into each other’s eyes. He’d never seen blue eyes such as hers. It only lasted a fraction of time because the clumsy girl quickly started apologizing while her face assumed every shade of red he knew.  
“Don’t worry, Marinette, I know you’re this distracted.” the other girl then addressed him:  
“And thank you, stranger. Last time someone showed me such chivalry was seventeen years ago.”  
“But, Alya, you are seventeen.” the blue-eyed girl, Marinette, said, still blushing.  
“That’s my point!” Adrien smiled at the scene. He was liking even more that place.  
“It was a pleasure helping you girls.” he said “But now I have to go: I can’t risk being late on my first day here. Do you know where the principal’s office is?”.  
“So, you are a new student! It’s that way.” Alya said, pointing in front of her. Marinette was still blushing, but confirmed her friend’s information furiously nodding her head.  
Adrien thanked them and left for the principal’s office. He hoped he would see them again: they seemed nice people.

* * *

 

“Marinette? What’s wrong with you, girl? You look like you’re going to have a heart attack!” Alya asked her best friend while flicking her forehead with her fingers. “Could this be what they call love at first sight? Oh, how romantic!” she smirked and put her hand on her hips, waiting for Marinette to answer.  
Marinette rubbed her forehead and looked Alya with wide eyes.  
“Alya, you really didn’t recognize him?”  
“Who? The new kid?”  
“Yeah… He’s Adrien Agreste, the model and only son of the world-famous French designer Gabriel Agreste!”


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Of course she knew who that was! No wonder there was such a mess outside of school if they were all waiting for him!

Marinette knew everything about his father, Gabriel Agreste. She knew how he became one of the major fashion designer of all times, the sacrifices he made to achieve his goal. Every time one of his new collections was on display on a runway, she managed to be there, one way or another. While opening a bakery was her parents’ dream, she had her own dream too. Aside from helping her family, Marinette wished that one day she would become a fashion designer recognized all over the world, just like Gabriel Agreste.

Inevitably, knowing about the father, she learned about the son.

Marinette first saw him sitting on the front row next to his father at a runway show she succeeded sneaking in. Adrien’s face glowed with the runway’s lights and all Marinette could think of was how beautiful (not good looking, but beautiful) he looked.

And that’s how she developed a tremendous celebrity crush on the boy. Just a celebrity crush, nothing more: she didn’t know him! Sure, he seemed a nice guy, but she couldn’t know that just by looking at him.

Yet, that morning she couldn’t help herself from blushing so furiously, and when her professor introduced the new student to the whole class, she had to make a huge effort not to jump on her feet and run out of the classroom as Adrien entered the room.

Alya began snickering just as she noticed Marinette’s instant blushing. Then Adrien did something that made her think she’d died and gone to heaven: he smiled at them.

Inevitably, butterflies filled her stomach and more blood invaded her cheeks.

But then, the glorious moment was shattered as a flash of yellow came crushing against Adrien yelling,

“Adrikiiiiiiiins!”

So much for a peaceful day.

Chloe was holding Adrien’s arm as if her life depended on it. Of course she’d know him… Lucky girl. And then, she said something that made Marinette’s world crumble,

“Adrien, after I heard that you were coming here I asked my daddy to put me in you class! Aren’t you happy?”

Uh? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…

* * *

 

… No, no, no, no!

Adrien feared she would have said something like that. He knew her well enough to expect things like those. Their friendship developed during all those parties their parents brought them along, where the only kids were him and her.

Sure, she was an amaz… a nic… a… a friend, but Adrien liked being away, far, far away, from Chloe. So, the perspective of being in the same class for the whole year kind of lessened his initial excitement. But he couldn’t tell her that: he was a gentleman, for God’s sake!

Keeping that on mind, he put on a smile and said, hoping she wouldn’t notice his distress, how glad he was to have somebody he already knew in his class.

As soon as he closed his mouth he felt the stares of the whole class upon him and Chloe. Had he done something wrong? Before he could ask, the teacher ushered them to their seats and began the lesson. He was sitting next to a kid introduced by the teacher as Nino, who didn’t seem a very sociable person: he sat distant from Adrien and didn’t bother looking up from his notes even a single time.

Then, when the bell rang, Adrien realized his desk-mate’s behavior depended on the fact that he probably hadn’t made a great impression on the whole class, as he watched everybody leave not sparing him a glance… even the two girls from that morning!

His almost perfect first day of school had turned into a flop.

* * *

 

“This is the worst day ever! After we managed to get away from that psycho, she crashes back into our lives without a warning.” Alya was more than annoyed.

“And what’s worse, Adrien is her friend! I thought he was a nice guy, but they had to ruin everything!”

“Yeah…” Marinette sighed, looking at the ground. Alya watched her with a smirk on her face,

“What’s wrong? Did finding out that Adrien is Chloe’s friend get you more upset than being in the same class with her for the whole school year?”

In sudden realization, Marinette begun chewing her nails and started rambling with a nervous pitch in her voice, 

“Oh no! You’re right! Now she’s going to torture me until we finish high school! She’ll be watching me, waiting for me to make a tiny mistake to have an excuse to fire my father! And everything we’ve worked for all our lives will be worthless! And…” and so on. Alya thought that perhaps Marinette was getting a little too overdramatic, but then remembered who they were talking about and silently agreed with her best friend.

* * *

When Marinette arrived home, she was exhausted. All through the day the stress had developed in a huge weight on her shoulders that could only be shaken off by a good sleep. But first, she had to do her last chores of the day, which was cleaning up Chloe’s room while she was having dinner.

So, with a deep breath, Marinette quickly reached Chloe’s “private quarters”, with the idea of getting her work done in the shortest time possible, only to find out that the other girl was still in there.

“What are you doing here?” asked Chloe annoyed.

Biting her tongue, Marinette politely told her that it was time for her to clean the room. Chloe shrugged her shoulders and went into her walk-in closet.

“And remember, don’t mess up anything!”

When the closet door closed, Marinette let out a sigh and started cleaning the table nearer the windows. She picked up the junk on it then turned to fix the flower vase in the middle. The flowers were beautiful, blue and white, their fragrance put a smile on her face.

Then she noticed a little detail, a ladybug that was running around on a petal. Putting lightly a finger next to it, she let it climb on her hand. Maybe that was a sign of an incoming lucky event, Marinette thought, observing curiously the spotted insect. Maybe her bad luck had come to an end. Marinette walked to the window and opened it. She stretched her arm towards the sky,

“Here, little one. Now you’re free” and Marinette watched the little ladybug fly into the darkening sky.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

As soon as she woke up, Marinette felt that on that day something would have happened. All through her morning routine she had a stingy sensation at the pit of her stomach. Call her paranoid, but she trusted her instinct and, right now, it said not to get her hopes up for the day.

Though, how could she be happy after what had happened the previous day?

First of all, her worst enemy had now major chances of ruining her life. Then, her crush (celebrity crush, CELEBRITY crush) openly stated that he was happy to be in the same class as said enemy. They must have been really close, as Chloe was, uhm, difficult to handle and being her friend was kind of impossible. That was how Adrien earned the whole class’ distrust with just a phrase. Poor thing! Marinette felt a little ashamed of her behaviour. But still, she didn’t want anything to do with Chloe and her circle of friends. As a matter of fact, nobody did.

Once she finished her morning chores, she went to the personnel’s changing room and changed for school.

Every day, except for Sundays (thankfully), Marinette would wake up at five, prepare everything she needed for school and head with her parents to Le Grand Paris, as they all started working early. Then, not before getting all her assignments done, she’d leave for school. What was odd was the fact that most of the time she managed to get to class late, no matter what time she finished working, something had to happen.

As a proof of that, since that morning she had everything done by a decent time, while she was going for the main door of the hotel, she got stuck in an unpleasant situation.

First, it should be noted that Le Grand Paris hotel, after a vicious protest made by an old rich lady that lived only for her dogs, allowed its guests to keep their pets during their stay.

Knowing this, the little old man that was wandering around the entrance area should have paid a little more attention on what was on the ground. Then, he wouldn’t have stepped on that dog’s tail and, as the dog immediately started barking at him, he wouldn’t have stumbled backwards, knocking over the expensive Chinese vase that shattered in a million pieces as soon as it touched the pavement.

Upon hearing the noise, Marinette rushed towards its cause. The poor man had fallen on the ground along with the vase, but thankfully didn’t hurt himself with its pieces. Careful not to step on anything, Marinette helped him getting back on his feet. The dog was still barking and its owner was shouting along with her dog while the receptionist was trying to calm her down.

The old man was about to open his mouth to thank the kind girl that helped him, but a voice interrupted him,

“What happened here?!” Marinette blanched: it was her manager.

The dog’s owner started proclaiming what abuse her poor little baby had to suffer, but Marinette’s manager’s eyes were focused on the broken object on the ground.

Without a second thought, Marinette stepped forward,

“I’m deeply sorry Madame Moreau, it was my fault”

The dog’s owner curled her lips and shouted,

“Do you think that a mere apology will…” but she didn’t finish, as Madame Moreau addressed Marinette,

“Oh, Marinette, what have you done? Do you know how much that vase was worth? I don’t think we can overlook what just happened” Marinette knew that, but she couldn’t let that poor old man get the blame. Helping other was like a second nature to her. Considering the circumstances, she could have helped him differently, though. Now she was in deep trouble.

Her manager spoke up again,

“Please, collect the pieces, then you can go to school, but I want you in my office as soon as your last period ends, is that clear?”

“Yes, Madame Moreau” with that the manager left, followed by a not so happy hotel guest who wanted justice for her dog.

Marinette sighed, her shoulders drooping and her spirit under her shoes. She turned to the old man, who was watching her intensely. Ready to excuse herself to go and pick a broom to clean up that mess, she was interrupted by said man,

“Thank you, young lady. I didn’t expect somebody to take the blame for me. If you ever need a hand don’t hesitate in asking for my help, as I’ll gladly offer you a hand.”

With that he left. Marinette was speechless. He was so calm after the mess he’d caused, she was a little taken aback.

What a strange guy.

Deep in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the receptionist approaching her with the broom.

“Marinette? I know you have school in five minutes, don’t worry, I’ll take care of the broken vase” she kindly said. Marinette thanked her over and over, then ran out of the doors and headed towards school.

It was nothing compared to the entire situation, but her colleague’s help had her gain a smile. Her day might have begun with a disaster, but as Marinette approached the school’s main entrance, she realized it was two days in a row she managed to arrive on time. That was a record, no kidding.

Upon climbing the stairs leading to her classroom, she heard a collective “Horray” coming from there.

Once Marinette entered, she noticed that everybody had crowded the front desk with an excited looks on their faces. She couldn’t help but wonder what she had just missed.

As if she could read her mind, Alya suddenly emerged from her classmates’ squished bodies and shouted,

“Marinette! You wouldn’t believe what just happened!” Now she was even more curious. “Adrien’s got us all invited to the Mayor’s exclusive masquerade party! Isn’t that great?” 

* * *

 

When Adrien arrived at school that morning he knew the first thing he had to do was talking to Nino about the previous day.

“Nino, I’m sorry for yesterday, it wasn’t my intention to offend you. Can we start over?”

His desk mate looked at him with a surprised expression. Adrien clarified that just because he was friends with Chloe it didn’t mean that he supported her every action. Then he awkwardly explained how all that high school stuff was new to him, so from his part making mistakes was going to be a constant during the remaining school year.

Adrien noticed how his classmate’s expression softened and released a sigh of relief. If he was to be sincere, he wasn’t sure whether Nino would have given him a second chance or not. He wasn’t really used to people.

Nino was about to answer Adrien’s attempt to start over, when Chloe launched herself on the latter, bragging about her father’s upcoming masquerade party, to which he was invited, _obviously_.

If someone were later to ask Adrien what had gotten him to do what he was about to do, he would’ve replied that his gut had taken possession of his brain and made him ask the first thing that came to his mind.

“Chloe, why don’t you ask your father to invite our classmates?” At that, everybody in the classroom turned to them.

“Why would I do that?” Chloe asked perplexed. _Obviously_ , Adrien wasn’t the only one that needed more friends.

She would have thanked him later.

“Well, Chloe, don’t you think that your father’s masquerade party hosts a lot of grown-ups? If I remember correctly, last year we were the only two teenagers there. It’ll be more fun if there were more kids, don’t you agree?” Adrien looked at her trying to decipher her expression: at least she was pondering his proposal.

The whole class was silent, everybody’s breath caught in their throats. Then, Chloe glanced quickly towards the ginger girl sitting in the front row, Sabrina, and said,

“Ok, you convinced me Adrikins. If I tell my daddy you asked for it too I’m sure he will accept.”

Then, Hell broke loose. All his classmates came rushing at him, squealing of joy.

Some thanked him, some patted him on the back, someone hugged him! Then Nino put an arm around his shoulders and said,

“That was awesome, dude! You already had me with your little speech from a few minutes ago, but now I might as well throw me at your feet!”

Adrien laughed nervously,

“You don’t have to do that, really.”

“…I was kidding, dude.”

“Oh”

A hand tugged his shirt sleeve and he turned to see Alya smiling at him,

“I knew you were a nice guy. I’m glad!” Adrien blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. At least he was back on the right path to make some friends. But then he noticed something missing: there was Alya, but where was…

“Marinette! You wouldn’t believe what just happened!” There she was! He felt a little lighter knowing that also Marinette now could give him a second chance.

Said girl entered the classroom followed by the teacher, who ushered everyone to their seats and begun her lesson.

* * *

As Alya explained to her what had happened before she arrived, Marinette kept glancing at Adrien, her lips forming a kind smile and her cheeks tinging of red. Her best friend had also told her about Adrien’s conversation with Nino, which everybody heard. So, it wasn’t just the party thing that had the whole class so eager: it was more of a welcome cheer.

The rest of the school day passed merrily and the girls already lost themselves in chatters about the masquerade party. Marinette thought that after all her day wasn’t so bad.

Well, maybe not entirely.

She still had to meet with her manager to accept whatever were her morning action’s consequences. On her way towards Le Grand Paris hotel, a white limousine stopped next to her. Chloe's frowning face appeared when the car window was lowered.

"You know," she began "Adrien might have made me change my mind on the guest list for my father’s masquerade party, but there are always exceptions."

"Of course, mademoiselle" Marinette already knew where that was going.

"So don't even think of showing up at that party. I don't want you or your clumsiness around, trying to ruin everything. If I see your face there, I'll have to take measures." And with that, she closed the window and the car left.

Marinette watched it go. Realization came upon her and anger slowly raised from the pit of her stomach.

How could someone be so double-faced? The girl wasn't a child anymore, she was almost an adult and it was time she started behaving as one! Though, Chloe was used to having her way, so getting mad wasn't worth the struggle. And right now, Marinette had a far more serious problem to face.

As soon as she arrived at the hotel, Marinette went to the changing room to put on her uniform, then headed to the manager's office. She knocked on the door and entered once she got the permission to get in. Marinette didn't expect to see her parents there.

And they didn't look happy. At all.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

"Marinette" Madame Moreau begun, "I had to inform your parents on what occurred today. They have agreed with me that the damage has to be fixed in one way or another as Monsieur Bourgeois was very upset to hear what happened."

Marinette lowered her gaze. That morning, she had hoped that maybe the old man she helped would’ve talked with her manager, or something like that. Instead, now she had to face full responsibility for that morning. Of course, she didn’t regret her actions, but still…

Madame Moureau continued,

“Since you are a student we agreed to add an extra hour to your working hours and have you working on Sunday morning, too. Your parents decided to help you, so they’ll have their time table extended too.” She then turned towards Marinette again,

“I also thought it will be better if you lend a hand to our head waiter during the Mayor’s party next week, don’t you agree?”

Well, now she could “attend” the party.

* * *

Marinette threw herself on her bed and let out a long sigh. On their way home, her parents had given her a full speech about responsibilities and how they hoped she’d be a little more wary in the future. Indeed, it had been long since Marinette had made a mistake like that, but seeing her parents so distressed about the whole matter had her feeling more conscious of it. They were all but happy to work extra hours, but with the three of them they’d pay off that Chinese vase in much a shorter time than what Marinette alone would have needed.

Marinette rolled on the bed and the sheets tangled with her legs. She had homework to do, but her thoughts were too focused on her parents.

Then her phone rang. She reached for the it in her purse and saw it was Alya calling her,

“Hey, Alya. What’s up?”

“Hey girl! I was wondering if we could prepare our costumes for the party together. You know, with your sewing skills and my supportive attitude we can do something awesome.”

Marinette held back a laugh: leave it to Alya to make her feel better.

“Well…I think I can come up with something original for you, but I will stick to a classic maid uniform.”

“A maid uniform? Marinette, you know I can help you make something less anonymous. You always have those smart ideas when it comes to this stuff and… Wait a minute!”

Oooooh, Alya was so smart,

“Are you telling me that you ARE actually going to wear a maid uniform because you have to work during the party?”

“…Yeah”

“Marinette!”

“What?”

“They can’t do that!”

“Yes, they can. It’s no big deal anyway: Chloe didn’t want me there either.”

“Who cares about Chloe! With a mask on she wouldn’t recognize you even if you tell her who you are! We have to do something!”

“Don’t wrap your head around this, Alya, really. Believe me when I say it’s better this way.”

“But… what about Adrien?”

“What about him?” Marinette could already feel her cheeks heating.

“He’s going to be there! We have to do something.”

“W-why are you bringing him up in this conversation?”

“Really? Girl, you have to do something about this crush of yours.”

“Pfft,” she couldn’t stop the nervous giggle from escaping her lips “what crush?”

The silence on the other end of the phone had her sweating cold. Then, Alya let out a long sigh,

“What do I have to do with you? Ok, listen, you must be there! Just imagine it: you and Adrien in the centre of the dance floor, slow music playing. Then, as the song gets to an end, he leans in and… BAM! This is your chance, Marinette!”

Now Alya was exaggerating. Of course, dancing with Adrien would have been nice, but  _kissing_ him was… Who was she kidding? Kissing Adrien would have her jump to the moon. Just thinking about it made her squeal like a little girl. But at that moment, she could only dream about her prince charming. She had to take care of a more severe problem.

“Don’t worry Alya, I’ll still be there at the party, just not as a guest.”

“But it won’t be any fun without you…”

“You’re too sweet, Alya, I’ll get cavities.”

“Your parents are bakers, I thought you were used to sweet things!”

They both broke into giggles, but then their conversation got interrupted by Marinette’s mother calling her for dinner.

“See you tomorrow, Alya.”

“Yeah, see ya! And don’t forget to come up with some wonderful designs for OUR costumes for the party: I’ll find a way to sneak you in, girl. You can count on it!”

* * *

Adrien was happy. His new friend, Nino, had shown him the school grounds after school, so they had enough time to get to know each other. Even though they didn’t have many things in common, getting along turned out to be much easier than he expected.

So, when he arrived home and his father summoned him, Adrien was far too joyful to notice the frown plastered on his Gabriel’s face.

“Adrien, I heard that Chloe Bourgeois invited your whole class to the Mayor’s masquerade ball,” word sure did travel fast, Adrien thought, “but I also heard that it was _you_ who came up with such idea.”

Adrien cringed. Told like that it didn’t sound as a positive thing. Though he couldn’t really understand why.

His father didn’t waste a second and explained what was his main bother,

“There are going to be prestigious guests at the ball and you know they are potential clients for my brand. You know that both you and I must make a good impression with them. So, I can’t have you fooling around with your friends the whole night. You are old enough to understand that our family has a reputation to maintain. That’s why I expect you to be standing by my side all the time, is that clear?”

Well, that wasn’t his original plan. Of course, he couldn’t say no to his father, but the main reason he got the whole class invited was to do exactly what his father didn’t want Adrien to do.

But only when his father had voiced his concern, Adrien realized how foolish his thoughts were: it was basically impossible that Gabriel Agreste would leave his only son behave like an overexcited kid in the presence of other well-known guests.

That’s why Adrien answered to his father that he didn’t even dream of doing anything that could harm his father’s name,

“You have nothing to worry about father, I won’t let you down.”

With that, Adrien left his father’s office and headed to his room, knowing he had to call Nino to tell him he had to find another wingman for the ball.

  



End file.
